Penalties and interest: Shortfall penalties

What are shortfall penalties?

Shortfall penalties apply to most taxes and duties, except child support repayments by liable parents.

A shortfall penalty is one applied as a percentage of a tax shortfall (a deficit or understatement of tax), resulting from certain actions on the part of a taxpayer. The law divides these actions into five categories of fault or breach, with a specified penalty rate for each category.